The Burrow
by lunylovegoodlover
Summary: Every year, for the first two weeks of summer, the Weasley/Potter clan gathers at the Burrow with their dearest friends. Chaos ensues. George/Angelina
1. Chapter 1

When George Weasley decided to propose to Angelina Johnson, there were some things that he was a hundred percent positive about. Chief among these was that he loved her.

Then there were the things that he was almost, but not entirely, sure of. Namely, her love for him. Oh, he knew she loved him – she told him so nearly every day. But there was always that little voice in the back of his mind saying that it wasn't enough, that he was moving too fast, that she'd say no.

And then there were the things that really had him worried, the things where he simply had no clue. Things like how Angelina would fit in with the family.

It was a real concern. True, she had met them all, and true, they all seemed to like her. But George couldn't help remembering that the first time she had been introduced to his parents it was as Fred's girlfriend.

They had made their piece with that, put it behind them. It was Fred who had first drawn them together and George liked to think that his twin would be happy for them. Whether his mum would be pleased was another matter entirely.

And then there was the sheer number of relatives. Not all of his siblings were married, but even so, the Weasley clan was pretty big. And they were picky. George could still remember the hell they had put Fleur through, and even though that had worked out, he didn't want to put Angelina through that. And that was just his immediate family. With the Weasleys suddenly finding themselves famous at the end of the war, huge waves of Weasley and Prewett cousins began to appear, all eager to be part of the family. The Weasleys being who they were, everyone was welcomed with open arms.

It was a lot to take in, and George couldn't stop thinking about it in the hours before his date with Angelina. A thousand doubts assailed him, but in the end, it was all for naught.

Because of course Angelina said yes, and of course the family welcomed her with open arms. Their wedding was a simple jeans-and-a-tee-shirt affair, and if their best man was absent, his presence was clearly felt throughout.

And of course everyone loved Angelina. They would have loved anyone who made George look complete again. They welcomed her with open arms and folded her neatly into the fabric of their lives. But what no one expected was the love that Angelina had for them. She, too, had had a large family before the war. However, many had been killed and most of the rest fled. She threw herself into the Weasley family with gusto, helping Molly in the kitchen, explaining Muggle devices to Arthur (her mother had been muggle born), and generally doing everything she could.

It was Angelina who had understood Molly and Arthur's loneliness as their children departed and who had come up with a solution. "Why don't you invite everyone here?" she asked Molly one day as they cooked. "Just open up your house for the last two weeks of summer."

"They won't come," Molly said, shaking her head. "They have their own lives now."

"They'll come," Angelina promised. And come they did. No matter where they lived, the Burrow was home, and the Weasley clan began to gather there every year. It was rare for anyone to stay for the entire time, but for two weeks, the Burrow was once again full of laughter and love.

Time passed, and a new generation of Weasleys began to appear. They grew up spending their summers at the Burrow, relying on their grandparents for everything and anything. Those precious two weeks became the epitome of happiness for those children and eventually they began to bring their friends. It expanded, and Angelina just expanded with it.

There were many things that George Weasley worried about in his life, but as he watched his wife running around his childhood home helping plan for the summer, wondering about how she would fit in with his family was not one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time that Fleur Weasley went to wake her elder daughter and found her curled up in bed with Teddy Lupin, she smiled. They looked so sweet and innocent, with her blonde hair spilling over him as she curled into his side. His hair was a bright blue, the color it turned when he was happiest, and his arm was around her. They fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, the little girl and her best friend.

_*THE NIGHT BEFORE*_

"Give it back!"

"Come and get it!"

"TEDDY! It's mine!"

"Not anymore! It's MINE now." He waved the doll tantalizingly.

Victoire let out a scream of frustration and leapt at him, almost knocking him to the ground as she tried to get her toy back. "GIVE IT TO ME!"

He broke free of her hold (no easy feat – even at four Victoire was strong) and fled, calling, "It's mine now, Vicki, MINE."

"Give it here!" she demanded as she raced after him.

"Why should I?"

"It's mine!" she screamed.

He laughed. "Nuh-uh. It's mine now."

"I HATE YOU!" she yelled. "I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! You're the worst person in the world, Teddy Lupin. You're not my best friend anymore!" Her face screwed up and she burst into tears, running to her room.

Teddy stood amongst the trees, watching her go. His little mind was working in overtime, frantically trying to think of how to make this better. "Wait!" he called after her, starting to run. "Vicki, wait up!"

"GO AWAY!" she screamed at him as she bounded into the house and flew up the stairs to her room. The door slammed behind her without her touching it.

Rather shocked, Teddy made his way downstairs, where little kids were playing under the watchful eye of his very pregnant Aunt Audrey.

"Where's Victoire?" Audrey asked him, taking in his dejected state in surprise. Teddy was one of the most cheerful kids she knew, always bubbling over with laughter. But now his face was solemn and his hair had faded to its natural brown.

"Upstairs," Teddy said listlessly.

Audrey pulled him into her lap as best she could (her belly was getting huge) and asked, "What happened?"

"I took her doll," Teddy said. "I was just teasing, but she got really mad. Then she started crying and said that we weren't best friends anymore." He paused, thinking that over. "But we promised to be best friends forever! She's still my best friend, isn't she?"

Audrey's heart melted. The poor little boy… "I think you hurt her pretty badly," she said to him. "Victoire loves her dolls very much, and you were being mean, not giving it back to her."

"I was just teasing!" he protested.

"Did Victoire know that?"

He frowned. "No."

"Why don't you go apologize?" Audrey said. "I'm sure she's as upset about all this as you are. Give her the doll back, say you're sorry, and give her a big hug. She'll forgive you."

"But she said I wasn't her best friend anymore," Teddy said. "What if she stays mad?"

"She won't," Audrey said with certainty. As difficult as Victoire could be, it was clear that the little girls' world revolved around Teddy. "Just say you're sorry."

"Okay," Teddy said, sliding off of her lap. His hair was already lightening, turning into a blond to rival Victoire's. "Thanks, Aunt Audrey!"

"Of course," she said, smiling at him.

Teddy ran up the steps, taking them two at a time. He slowed as he reached room where Victoire was staying and opened it slowly, half afraid of what he would find. He needn't have worried. Victoire was sprawled across the bed, her sheets wet with tears and her head buried in her pillow. But crying was tiring, and she was now sound asleep.

Teddy crept over to her, for once managing to not stumble. He laid the doll on the nightstand and knelt down next to her. "Vic?" he whispered. "Vicki, I'm sorry."

"Go away," she mumbled petulantly.

"No," he said firmly. "Can we be best friends again, Vicki, please?"

"No," she said, rolling over to look him in the eye. "You stole my doll."

"It's right here, Vic," he said, showing it to her. "It's yours. I won't steal it again, I promise."

"Pinky promise?" she asked. He held out his pinky and they shook on it. Victoire moved over and Teddy slipped into the bed beside her, pulling the covers over both of them.

"Teddy?" Victoire whispered after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"You're my bestest friend in the whole wide world."

He smiled and slipped an arm around her, pulling her in close for a hug. "I know."

_*THE NEXT MORNING*_

Fleur smiled at the two munchkins and closed the door, thinking to herself, _They really are the sweetest things imaginable._

The second time that Fleur Weasley went to wake her elder daughter and found her curled up in bed with Teddy Lupin, she nearly screamed. The teenagers were tangled together in Victoire's bed, their arms around each other. Had they not been both clothed, she would have had a fit. As it was, Fleur had to take a deep breath to stop herself from hexing them both into oblivion. As she did so, she couldn't help but notice how happy they looked. Victoire's head was resting on his chest and his arm was around her, her soft silver hair contrasting sharply with his bright blue.

_*THE NIGHT BEFORE*_

"Aunt Andie!" Victoire bounded forward to kiss the old woman on the cheek. "How are you?"

"I'm quite well," Andromeda said, smiling at the beautiful young woman. "I'm certainly better now that we're here and my grandson will finally stop going crazy."

"Crazy is a prerequisite to coming to the Burrow," Victoire said, but she wasn't the only one. Turning, she grinned at Teddy, who had just said the exact same thing. His answering smile nearly split his face in two.

"TEDDY!" A red-haired bullet shot out of nowhere, charging straight into Teddy's arms. "AL!" Lily screamed at the top of her (very strong) lungs. "JAMES! TEDDY'S HERE!"

Almost instantly, Teddy and Andromeda were swamped by Weasleys. It was nearly half an hour later that Teddy was able to grab Victoire and drag her out into the orchard.

"How are you?" he asked as they sat under a tree. "I feel like I never get to see you anymore."

"I'm all right," she said, shrugging. "I j just can't believe it's my last year at Hogwarts."

"You're scared," Teddy said. She shrugged again, looking away. Teddy had always been able to read her like a book. "Vic, what's going on?"

"Nothing," she snapped, then suddenly let out a breath of air and leaned against Teddy. His arm went around her, automatically pulling her close to him.

Teddy and Victoire had changed since they were small. The adorable little girl had become a stunning young woman, and the sweet little boy had grown into a handsome young man. Their relationship had changed as they did. Though they remained best friends, they grew apart the first few years they were at Hogwarts. Their age gap, so insignificant before, had suddenly become huge and impossible to cross.

Then, in her fourth year, come Victoire's first boyfriend and her first broken heart. It was Teddy who she had gone running to, out of instinct more than anything else. He had held her as she cried over that boy, and the next, and all the rest until he graduated. Their friendship had become something different that year. He was her rock, the one she could tell anything to, her bestest friend in the whole wide world. It wasn't long, though, before Teddy realized there was a problem with being best friends with a very beautiful member of the opposite gender. His heart had an unfortunate habit of behaving erratically when she was around and he found that he seemed to be giving a lot of detentions to her boyfriends. He tried to convince himself that Louis probably would do the same in his place, but by the time she was entering her seventh year, there was no more fooling himself. Somehow, he had fallen in love with his best friend. Who was two years younger than him. Was that creepy, or what? Maybe it was something genetic, something about the Lupins that made them fall in love with younger women. True, two years wasn't a huge age difference, but she was only seventeen, for crying out loud. And Uncle Bill would kill him.

"What's wrong?" he asked her again.

"Am I a temperamental bitch?" she asked bluntly. He started.

"Who said that?" he demanded, rage taking hold of him.

"Never mind who," she said, pulling away so she could look at him. "Am I?"

"Vic…" he said, wondering how on earth he could put what he was feeling into words. "You're temperamental, yes. And goodness knows you're a handful sometimes. You drive me crazy – you drive everyone crazy, but a bitch? Never. You're wonderful, Vic, and don't you dare let anyone tell you otherwise. Who said that to you?"

"David Templeton."

"Templeton?" Teddy thought hard and conjured up an image of the boy. "Ravenclaw? Your year? Plays chaser?"

Victoire nodded. "I dated him since just after Christmas and it was going great, but then I started getting a bit stressed and he started accusing me of ignoring him, and we got into a huge fight that ended with us broken up."

"Good," Teddy said savagely, his arm tightening around her. "He doesn't deserve you."

"You always say that about my boyfriends."

"Well, it's true," he said defensively.

"You don't say that to Dom or Molly or Lucy, though," Victoire said. "Just me. Why?"

He shrugged, hoping she couldn't feel his heart rate speeding up. "I love Dom and Molly and Lucy, but they're not you."

"What am I?" she asked, fixing those golden eyes of hers on him. "To you, I mean. What am I?" Victoire could feel Teddy stiffen beside her, but she didn't care. She was sick and tired of watching him watching her and wondering if he could possibly feel what she felt. "Well?"

"You're Victoire," he said finally. "You're… you're my best friend in the entire world, but it's more than that. I – I think I – IthinkImightbeinlovewithyou."

"Pardon?" Victoire said, her heart leaping. He hadn't said what she thought he said. He couldn't have.

He flushed, his skin automatically darkening to hide it. "I think I might be in love with you," he mumbled, looking away from her.

"I thought that's what you said," Victoire said, smiling. "Teddy?"

"Yeah?" he said, still looking away.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble I've gone through to get you to admit that?"

"What?"

She laughed. "You really are blind, aren't you? Look at me, Teddy." She took his face in her hands and brought it close to hers. "I. Am. In. Love. With. You. Is that so hard to comprehend?"

That got his attention. His jaw dropped as he scanned her face for a sign that she was joking. Instead, he was greeted by a dazzling smile. (Dazzled was how he felt around Victoire most of the time, but her smile on that day was more dazzling than usual.) Hardly believing his luck, Teddy wrapped his arms around her.

"Well," Victoire demanded. "Are you going to kiss me or not?" He laughed, but when he didn't move, she took matters into her own hands. "Gryffindors," she muttered. "Too bloody noble for your own good."

Teddy could have pointed out that she was a Gryffindor, too, but the feel of her lips on his stopped him. Kissing Victoire, he discovered, was not like kissing other girls. He suspected her veela blood had something to do with that – it had always made her more… passionate. But it was more than that. Maybe it was because Teddy had been waiting so long for this kiss, dreaming about it for years. Maybe it was because he half suspected to feel dirty – after all, their age difference was no small matter. But it just felt right. No, better than that. It felt perfect.

"Teddy?" Hugo's voice shattered the perfection. "Vic? Are you two back here somewhere?" The two teens sprung apart guiltily. One glance was enough for them to agree to keep this quiet. The Weasley/Potter clan had a bad habit of destroying relationships, even if they approved of them.

"Over here!" Teddy called, and their privacy was over.

Later that night, Teddy poked his head into the room that Victoire was sharing with Dominique, Molly, and Lucy. He knew better than to find her alone, but wasn't prepared for the chaos that met his eyes.

"Teddy!" Molly cried as she caught sight of him. "Are you coming?"

"Don't be daft," Lucy said as she wrestled Dominique for a pillow. "It's a girls-only sleepover."

"Tradition," Victoire explained. She was the only calm one in the room, standing about looking amused as her cousins packed their bags.

"You're not going?" Teddy asked.

"Nah, I'm tired," Victoire said, slipping Teddy a small smile that no one else noticed.

"You're missing out," Dominique warned as she hoisted her bag onto her shoulder.

"Well, I, unlike you, actually have a job to go to tomorrow," Victoire said.

Lucy snorted. "Yeah, because bartending at the Leaky Cauldron is so strenuous."

Laughing, the girls trailed out of the room. It was a surprisingly small room, Teddy thought, once you took all the people out of it.

Teddy didn't plan to stay the night. He and Victoire were just talking and laughing (and kissing) when it seemed silly to be sitting on top of the covers and they slipped under them. They were just muttering sweet nothings to each other and laughing over the cliché-ness, when Victoire looked over to see that he had fallen asleep. She fully intended to wake him up and send him back to his own bed, but he looked so peaceful it seemed a pity to move him.

_*THE NEXT MORNING*_

Fleur took a deep breath and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. The last thing that Bill needed this morning was to find his daughter in bed with her best friend – there had already been one shouting match that morning.

Teddy looked up as Fleur moved closer. She hadn't even noticed he was awake, but there he was, looking up at her with that combination of guilt and puppy dog eyes, his face automatically shifting to look innocent. Fleur, however, was not fooled. "Would you care to explain yourself?" she hissed. Teddy made a face.

"Vic," he whispered. "Vic, wake up." Yawning, Victoire opened her eyes to find Teddy's face right in front of hers. "We're in trouble."

Seeing her mother frowning at them, Victoire had to laugh. In a flash, she was out of the bed. Pulling Teddy behind her, she darted over to the window and out of it, barely remembering to throw down a Cushioning Charm before they hit. As always, Teddy followed her.

At the window, Fleur shook her head. She had seen this coming, of course, though Bill had always hoped that it would take them a few more years. They were too young to be falling in love, he said, but Fleur disagreed. After all, she hadn't been much older than Victoire was when she first met Bill. And watching Teddy and Victoire running for the orchard in their sleep-crinkled clothes, Fleur finally began to plan her daughter's wedding.


End file.
